But he can also show a real prickliness at odd moments.

There is a district attorney with a reputation for prickliness.

That prickliness has been much in evidence of late.

It was this prickliness that gave her writing its savor.

"Given the prickliness of this relationship, I felt that to wait a whole year was risky," he said.

At the same time, he has developed a reputation for prickliness and bullying.

Although I felt sorry for him, that prickliness in his manner made me reluctant to reveal myself.

There was no prickliness between Lizzie and her father.

One last time, the prickliness about their relationship resurfaced.

Clarke had read that Cooke was "a private man with a tendency to prickliness."

Beijing's prickliness over a formal apology probably reflects several factors.

It is not hard to imagine his prickliness.

I could almost feel the slow and maddening prickliness as it pranced along its way.

Filmmakers around the world know of her prickliness.

Chronic prickliness will progress to stiffness then pain, then perhaps death.

Is Jill's prickliness a result of depression, or is she "just not a team player"?

And the de-trimming, after the needles have dried to further prickliness, can be painful indeed.

Flashes of prickliness, however, can sometimes be detected.

The unaccustomed absence of prickliness and difficulty makes one wonder if Europe has, without saying so, made an important strategic decision.

Meanwhile, India's endemic prickliness shows no signs of remission.

A prickliness in my neck would give way to a restless agitation that left me edging toward panic.

These may reveal a new German prickliness.

Ori didn't seem to pick up on the prickliness.

McCarthy's very prickliness was, for Hardwick, a source of her appeal.

Although Gore idolized his parents as a child, his prickliness about his father today is apparent.